Tragedy of the commons
Good morning all, I'm a philosopher, at least I'd like to think I am. One of the things that always intrigued me was the tragedy of the commons. It is the idea that if someone is owned by no one, it is abused by everyone. The best example is the ocean, for example the cod fisheries outside of Boston. No one owned the cod, and everyone fished (because when it's the commons, the best thing you can do is to use it faster than everyone else because no one owns it). This leads to the cod fishery being depleted and the whole fishing industry grinding to a halt. In this incarnation, I want to talk about insurance and the litigious nature of our society. We have a culture of "something for nothing" and the idea that if you sue someone huge (like an insurance company, a school, the government, McDonalds) you aren't hurting anyone. You are getting something for nothing. But no one considers that these lawsuits are the death by a thousand cuts to everyone. W